1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates in general to the field of information handling system virtual machines, and more particularly to virtual local area network (VLAN) advertisement and automated configuration at an information handling system network.
2. Description of the Related Art
As the value and use of information continues to increase, individuals and businesses seek additional ways to process and store information. One option available to users is information handling systems. An information handling system generally processes, compiles, stores, and/or communicates information or data for business, personal, or other purposes thereby allowing users to take advantage of the value of the information. Because technology and information handling needs and requirements vary between different users or applications, information handling systems may also vary regarding what information is handled, how the information is handled, how much information is processed, stored, or communicated, and how quickly and efficiently the information may be processed, stored, or communicated. The variations in information handling systems allow for information handling systems to be general or configured for a specific user or specific use such as financial transaction processing, airline reservations, enterprise data storage, or global communications. In addition, information handling systems may include a variety of hardware and software components that may be configured to process, store, and communicate information and may include one or more computer systems, data storage systems, and networking systems.
In order to more efficiently use processing resources of information handling systems, enterprises sometimes configure the information handling systems to run virtual machines. For example, a single server information handling system runs a host operating system, such as a hypervisor, over which multiple virtual machines execute as independent systems with each virtual machine having its own operating system. Efficiencies result from the sharing of physical processing resources by multiple virtual information handling systems where physical processing resources are allocated to virtual machines as the virtual machines need the resources. By networking multiple server information handling systems with each other, virtual machines can migrate between server information handling systems to level the utilization of the physical resources provide by the server information handling systems. A virtual machine manager (VMM) or similar application typically manages the allocation of physical resources to virtual machines.
Virtual local area networks (VLANs) are sometimes used to support communications between virtual machines and physical network resources. VLANs define a network that behaves as if physically connected to the same wire even if different endpoints are on different LANs. VLANs allow movement of virtual machines to different physical resources with software-based configurations. VLANs are configurable in the host server information handling system operating system so that a server port can be a member of multiple VLANs, such as when a server information handling system runs a hypervisor with multiple virtual machines supported by one or more VLANs. Configuration of VLANs at an operating system can present a complex problem for information technology professionals. A limited number (4096) of VLANs are typically available for allocation and network administrators typically must configure VLAN settings on a per device basis so that VLAN assignments are consistent across the network. Inconsistencies in the VLAN settings can lead to security weaknesses in the L2 network infrastructure.
To aid in the configuration of VLANs across a L2 switched network, the I.E.E.E. developed the 802.1ak Generic VLAN Registration Protocol (GVRP) and a related encapsulating Generic Attribute Registration Protocol (GARP). Although GVRP was intended to provide for automated configuration of VLANs across a L2 switched network, it does not deploy consistently in networked devices and is not implemented by most host operating systems or network interface card (NIC) drivers. For example, Linux, Windows and VMWare will usually send GARP requests for VLAN IDs at boot and when VLANs are created, but not at VLAN removal. Host operating systems can include the ability to manually configure VLANs, however, manual configuration of VLANs through a host hypervisor can present a tedious and time consuming task of ensuring consistent configuration across multiple administration domains, namely network and server domains.